Probably one of the most significant pieces of street art in the country - the gigantic Mahatma Gandhi on the towering Delhi Police Headquarters building at ITO - was done by artist Anpu Varkey. But Bengaluru, the city she grew up in, had none of her masterpieces until St+Art Festival came here. About a week back, Bengaluru finally came to have a big piece by her. A humongous harvest moon on the unpainted side wall of a house catches your attention near Halasuru Metro Station. The structure's proximity to the overhead metro ensures easy and higher visibility of the mural.
The site, the Delhi-based artist says, was chosen by Amitabh Kumar of Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology, which is hosting the festival in the city, after much thought and effort. "But I had the image in mind, all so clear. I have had this image in my mind for a long time and never before did I yearn to do something like this," says Anpu.
For a space like this, she wanted a symbol of universal connect. "And what better than the moon? After all, it is the earth's only permanent natural satellite. It is like the biggest wifi system we are all connected to."
She was all of 17 when she left Bengaluru. She went to M.S. University, Baroda to study painting and Byam Shaw School of Art in London. All this while she kept coming back to the city she calls home to visit her parents. But somehow a large signature work never happened. The cat - which first appeared on a wall during Extension Khirkee festival in Delhi - started to pop up in street art festivals held in other parts of the country. She even published a graphic novel which had a cat called Jaba as its protagonist.
Anpu's knitting cat became a local landmark for several in Shahpur Jat but within two years, she, in collaboration with German artist Hendrik Beikrich created another colossal mural (6080 square foot) of Mahatma Gandhi for the St+ Art Festival in Delhi in 2014.
She feels the Gandhi mural has been appropriated by everyone. International magazines highlighted it, so did the national media and lot of others. "But for me it is like I did it and it is over. I feel the conversation has just begun."
While she was doing the moon mural, a lot of people came to her and asked her what is going on. "They remembered seeing something similar like another wall being painted elsewhere and asked me what is going on. They were connecting the dots. A local goonda came and asked his name to be included in the work. A lot of them wanted to know what the moon symbolises. We all know what the moon means but we love to hear stories."
(The festival, an initiative by St+Art India Foundation of Delhi and supported by Asian Paints is on in the city till October 30).
